SECRET OF THE WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20288, 22 June 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)

SECRET OF THE WAR.

ADVENTUROUS CAPTAIN.

STORY OF DUMMY "WARSHIP. 1

.WELL-MAINTAINED DISGUISE. Few men have experienced a more adventurous life than Captain R. H. Trotter, of Belfast, who recently went to Western Australia to settle down "oil." a farm he has bought. When the war broke out ho was in command of Pacific liner, Mexico, which was employed in South American coastal waters. He joined a contingent of the Legion of Frontiersmen, of which he was an active member. After seeing service in France Captain Trotter was " combed out" from the front lino trpops and given command of the Invincible. Tho big ship lay at a base off the coast of Scotland. Her commander was given orders to proceed to sea ft'fter provisioning for many months, and was Riven secret instructions to hold communication with nobody and to .keep clear of all approaching vessels. Times out ''of number Captain Trotter's ship was reported. The American Press

gave details of the vessel, but they failed to understand why the Invincible was continuously cruising; off the American seaboard outside the limits. Hundreds of ships passed reports about the Invincible, and some more curious than others came nearer the vessel than Captain Trotter thought desirable. He ordered them to keep away and watch for submarines which he, alleged were cruising inr the vicinity. For nine months the Invincible cruised about the Atlantic unscathed. Submarines kept well clear of her; there was something mysterious about the ship which they were unable to penetrate. Was she a trap for the unwary T7-boat that ventured too near? '

There must have been some strange dread among the commanders of enemy submarines says a writer in the Sunday News. The Invincible had 'no protecting escort of destroyers, nor did she appear in any great hurry to " move on." With the ever alert " Bob Trotter " —as his friends term him—on the bridge, the Invincible steamed leisurely along as if challenging an undersea boat t"o fire a torpedo. The secret of the ship's mission was so well kept that no one ever discovered except those immediately concerned that the

Invincible was a "staged ship." Her guns were of wood and her superstructure of stout battens and canvas, So successfully was this merchant vessel disguised to resemble the real Invincible, even to the position of funnels, masts, boats, ventilators, and gun emplacements; that she deceived officers who were well acquainted with the vessel. Captain Trotter never entered a port. When at the end of his cruise he entered a small loch in the Highlands to dismantle the disguise so well maintained, to reappear as another ship entirely, no one outsido a small and trusted circle was the wiser. 1 From the time .young Trotter stepped on board one of the Belfast Star Line of sailing ships, until ho gave up his sea career, his life has been one t long series of adventures. Mrs. Trotter has travelled extensively in many parts of the world. And now with their three children the family are fioins to try, farming down under.'" ,